The Revelation Academy

By Jenna Louise Barrett

The Apocalypse is coming.

What is Olivia going to do when faced with the reality of the end of the world? Transported into a world of warfare and teenage drama. New friends mix with enemies as Olivia figures out her place in a growing, and

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jenna Louise Barrett
• Release date: Mar 14, 2021
• ISBN: 9781919617510

Book preview

One

Chapter One

Dawn was about half an hour away. The sky was still dark but some pretty colours were showing through on the horizon. This was Olivia’s favourite time of day. It felt like she had it all to herself. She did not have to worry about school or her little brother getting into trouble again. She did not even have to worry about what her older sister was up to, running about the country with strangers. This moment was just her own. No problems, no worries, just the beautiful sky and the chill of dawn.

Olivia Johnson was sixteen years old and just finishing secondary school. She should just have the typical worries of a teenager; what boy fancied her, did she have any spots coming on and what were the popular people thinking of her. But she was not a normal teenage girl, she had family issues, and she was not as shallow as most girls her age; she cared about more than herself and what people thought about her. She worried about her siblings, old and young, and what was happening in the wider world. Hell, she was going to be living out in the world in a few years, so why should she not worry about it? Some of her friends at school thought she was weird, but they liked her mostly. She could be funny when she wanted to, and she had an insight into the society of school that most did not have at her age. Sure they did not like it when she tried to convince them that the latest scandal at school was likely to be forgotten in a few weeks, they liked to gossip.

Olivia lived in the Cotswolds, attending a large school. She was one amongst hundreds of students rushing about their daily lives of timetables and gossip. She could not wait for college and the freedom that came with it. She wanted the freedom to study what subjects she found interesting, to meet people from further afield than the 10 miles around her small town. She got little opportunity to travel. Her family was not too well off so holidays abroad were almost non-existent.

Oh yeah, her family. Well, she was an orphan. Happy thought, right? She and her little brother lived with their aunt, their father’s sister. They had lived with their aunt for about 9 years now, since she lost her parents in a forest on the other side of the world. They never found their bodies, but if they were alive, they would have found their way home by now. Her little brother had only just started school, so was just finishing Year Seven. He fit in well at the school, showing off on the football field and making all the right friends. He would do well in the school’s shallow society. He did not know what he was going to do with his life after school, but what twelve-year-old did, really?

As the sun appeared for the day, Olivia’s thoughts turned to what she was going to be doing that day. She was going for testing; she did not know what they were testing for, but pretty much everyone did it at her age. It was linked to The Revelation Academy, a prestigious school outside of London. Even so, the details were not known. They were probably proprietary or something like that. The Revelation Academy was mysterious, but they seemed to do some good in the world. Most graduates found their way onto career paths where they make a difference in the world. 25 of the last 30 elected MP’s were graduates. Hell, even the current Prime Minister was a graduate, and this one seemed to have somewhat positive ratings, for a Prime Minister at least. The Academy started as a small elite school that only the richest of the rich could get tuition for, but about 20 years ago they changed dramatically. They were open to everyone and even had an extensive scholarship programme for those who couldn’t pay their way. Olivia was not too sure what she wanted to do with her life after school, but she was sure she wanted to go to college and university, do it the old-fashioned way.

Olivia! Are you awake? A sudden shout shook Olivia out of her internal monologue. It was her aunt.

Yes! Have been for a little while. She muttered the last bit to herself. Her aunt never really appreciated the sunrise, so did not understand why Olivia did. Whenever she mentioned it to her brother, all she got was a dumbfounded look, occasionally with a bit of drool thrown in for luck.

Get ready then, breakfast will be served soon. Of course, breakfast was early today. Olivia normally had the sunrise to herself for at least thirty minutes, but her aunt had to run into work before her testing later that day. Her aunt had grumbled a bit about it, but her boss insisted she had to come into the office early if she wanted to leave early. Her boss was a bit of a dick, really, but the wages paid the bills, so they could not complain too much about it.

Olivia got dressed and made her way down the corridor to the kitchen. They lived in a three-bed flat on the outskirts of town. Thankfully, they were on the ground floor so they did not have to worry about several flights of stairs when they brought home the shopping. It was a nice enough flat. The three of them had done their best to make it homely. Photos were covering the walls, some of the three of them, some baby photos, and some photos of her long-lost parents. Her Aunt still teared up sometimes looking at photos of her older brother. They were quite close as children so it was a major shock when he was announced missing presumed dead.

Her Aunt was in the kitchen pouring out cereal for them both. They knew that Olivia’s brother would not be awake for a while. It was far too early for him. Olivia tucked into her Shreddies and looked across to her Aunt, looking a bit tired (and not surprising considering it was normally just Olivia awake).

Got anything big happening at work today? Olivia asked, making conversation to start the day.

I have a few meetings and there is an event this afternoon I have to attend. Busy life of a PA right? Her aunt replied, with a sarcastic raise of an eyebrow at the end. Olivia knew she did not like her job much, she would much rather be painting in her studio, but she had to make do with their back garden when the weather permits. Her aunt was a wonderful artist, she might have been able to make a living with it; if it wasn’t for the three children she had to take in nine years ago. She still liked to go to galleries at the weekend, and Olivia went with her a couple of times, appreciating the art for all the hard work that went into it. Her brother could not care less for art. He was into video games and football, a typical male pre-teen, almost like they had been made in a factory and delivered to most families to annoy their older sisters.

Sounds interesting, Olivia replied equally sarcastically. Well, I’m planning on revising some more before my test later. Do you know what time you will be back for?

I should be here at half two, should give us plenty of time to get to the test centre for 3.15. Do not worry, we will be fine. Her Aunt thought she was worried about the test, she was not; she just wanted to know how much revising time she had.

OK. I’ll see you at half two then. I can get the zombie up if you have to run off to work now. Of course, Olivia was referring to her sleeping brother upstairs.

Are you sure? I can try waking him up again before I leave.

It is fine. I’ll make sure he gets to school. You head off to work. Olivia had a couple of methods she wanted to try out on her little brother without her aunt knowing, anyway. This seemed like an excellent opportunity.

OK, you call me if anything happens. You have my work number? I’ll let you know when I’m heading home. She kissed Olivia on the head as she was rushing out of the door. Bye Matthew! She shouted down the corridor as she closed the door. Predictably, there was no noise in response.

Olivia cleaned up the breakfast bowls left behind and thought about what method to use first on her little brother. She decided on the simplest first. She stopped at the airing cupboard on her way to his room, picking up a pillow. Opening the door to his room was horrible. It was messy, smelly, and Matt was snoring loudly.

Wakey wakey little brother. Olivia sang nicely, knowing it would not work. Smiling to herself, she then launched the pillow at his head. It bounced off him, barely getting a snort out of him. Hmm. Ok, take two. Olivia picked up the pillow, jumping about the room, avoiding his crap on the floor as she went. She stood at the head of the bed and started whacking him on the head with the pillow. Still no response. He was a zombie this early in the morning. Fine. You asked for it. She said to his sleeping form as if he would respond. If a pillow wouldn’t work, she had another idea. Jumping back out of the room, she went to the living room and pried their cat off of the sofa. Giggling to herself, she grabbed some treats for the cat on her way back to Matt’s room. She carefully placed some treats on the bed and on Matt (knowing that he doesn’t move much in his sleep). She then placed the cat by the end of the bed and ran out of the room. She knew that the feeling of the cat slowly making his way up Matt’s body, eating the treats as he went, would wake him up. It feels creepy when you have a cat walking up to you when you are half asleep.

BLOODY HELL MAXIMUS! Olivia heard Matt shout a couple of minutes later. Wait, how did these treats get in here? OLIVIA! At that point Olivia couldn’t keep her giggles to herself, she burst out laughing, unattractively.

I told you to wake up, but you didn’t listen to me. She called down the hallway. Maximus came running back into the living room and onto his cushion. She stroked his head, making him purr. Good Maximus, you have been very helpful.

Matt came walking down the hallway, looking very disgruntled. Or at least as much as he can at twelve years old. Why would you do that? Why can’t you just shout till I’m up? It is a much nicer way to wake up. I was dreaming I had bugs all over me before I woke up. Thanks for that image. Matt complained, but Olivia just smiled at him.

I shouted, to begin with. I even threw a pillow at you and hit you with it repeatedly, but even that didn’t work. You are impossible to wake up this early in the morning. Olivia said smugly. Matt looked confused. He looked over at the clock on the wall above the TV. When he saw the time, his eyebrows almost disappeared into his floppy hairline.

It’s half five! What are you doing waking me up so early?! Matt half-shouted at Olivia.

I was told to wake you up and get ready for school. This is when I usually get ready for school, so I got you up. Now go have a shower and I will make breakfast for you. Matt just glared at her as he made his way to the bathroom.

Still smiling to herself, she prepared some bread to make toast when Matt got out of the shower. She fed Maximus and got her school books out to revise. It was the beginning of June and her year had the week without classes for revision time. Olivia wasn’t sure if any of this would come in helpful during her test later that day, but she was going to get as much information to stick in her memory as possible, just in case. The details of the test had never become public. Even those who had gone through the testing had to sign confidentiality agreements so her big sister couldn’t tell her anything about it. Not that she speaks to her sister all that often. Kaley had completed her testing, stayed in school and moved out as soon as she turned 16. After her test, she became quite withdrawn, and she and Olivia’s relationship suffered for it. Olivia was only 10 at the time Kaley moved out. What was she to do? Matt, being two years younger than Olivia, remembered little about Kaley living at home. Kaley visited during the holidays, so they still spoke, but she was becoming like a stranger to the family. Kaley and their aunt would always get into an argument when she visited, and that was strange as her aunt wasn’t the argumentative type, mostly. Olivia always tried to listen in on the arguments, but she could never make much sense of what was said. Kaley was quite secretive, so it sounded like she spoke carefully, not to give anything away. This just angered their aunt even more.

During her ruminating, Olivia heard the shower turn off. She turned to the kitchen and popped the bread in the toaster for Matt. Collecting the marmalade and jam from the fridge, she put everything on the table for Matt when he got out of the bathroom. As expected Matt sat at the table in nothing but his underwear, which was one thing about Matt that Olivia wished she had, no body shame. Sure, Matt was yet to hit puberty, but she thought Matt would handle it well.

Olivia started looking through her Maths books while Matt got himself dressed and fed. She prompted him a couple of times about getting ready, but he was ready by seven-thirty. Olivia made sure his bag was packed, lunch and all, then sent him off to the bus, which stopped at the end of their road. They walked to the stop together so often she was sure he knew where to go. She saw Matt out of the door with a wave. Finally, she had the flat to herself so she could revise in peace. She had